Being Human
by Anjion
Summary: Olaf is a snowman, pure and simple. Everybody knows that. So what happens one day when he suddenly isn't a snowman anymore?...


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Frozen, sadly, Disney does. Other named characters are mine, and the remaining characters own themselves. Please read and review!**

 **A/N: This story was inspired by a video on my favourite YouTube channel, Working with Lemons, and is dedicated to them. If you like Frozen, or Disney in general, go check them out!**

 **And a big thank you to Thepopcornpup for her help!**

 _All is quiet in Arendelle. Nothing is moving except the leader of a herd of wild reindeer up in the hills. It is snowing very lightly, covering the ground with a dusting of white powder. It will get harder soon, and by morning there will be at least 5 inches of it muffling all sound._

 _But there is something else in the air; a tiny yellow fleck, invisible unless you know exactly where to look, and even then, it would be near impossible to spot. It floats down in the flurry, down towards the castle, until it is blown through a tiny crack in a window by a sudden puff of wind; it wafts lazily along the corridors, without a sound, until it finally settles, unnoticed, upon the castle's smallest occupant..._

* * *

Olaf opened an eye and squinted at his surroundings. Liking what he saw, he opened his other eye and sat up, stretching and yawning. Being a snowman, he didn't really need sleep, but after discovering that Elsa, Anna, Kristoff – in fact, the whole kingdom _– did_ need sleep, he had opted to give it a try and had decided he liked it. He clambered out of the ice box that was his 'bed' and waddled to the kitchen door which was, as always, slightly ajar so that he could get out whenever he wished (he couldn't reach the handle).

He stood in the corridor for a moment, trying to decide what to do next, as none of the servants were up, meaning that neither of the princesses would be either. After a few seconds, he decided to go outside for a walk and so, with well-practised ease, he clambered through the specially installed 'Olaf door' and was soon tramping happily through the fresh, deep snow.

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When he came back down the mountain a few hours later, the kingdom was bustling with activity. Even as he strode towards the castle, Olaf could see the servants in the castle windows as they opened the shutters and shook out their dusters, and he smiled.

He reached the castle courtyard in half the time it normally took him, but he didn't notice, so intent was he on his next task. He slipped in through the back door and hurried along the corridor, in search of Elsa or Anna. He had got about halfway along the main hall when he quite literally bumped into Kai, Queen Elsa's big, burly manservant, and he sat down with a soft thud.

"Heya, Kai!" he said with enthusiasm, beaming up at the man. Kai just stood there, frozen to the spot in surprise, his mouth opening and closing like a stranded goldfish. A moment later, he managed to regain control of himself and his features creased into a frown.

"Who are you?" he demanded in a furious whisper as Olaf picked himself up. "What are you doing here – how did you get in?"

"I live here," replied Olaf, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.

"Don't give me that," hissed Kai, taking hold of Olaf's arm and guiding him gently but firmly to the door. "By rights I ought to tell Queen Elsa about this," he continued in a loud whisper, "but I'm not going to, because she's busy enough as it is." By now they were at the door, and Kai opened it with more force than necessary.

"Go home!" And with that, he shoved the little snowman out into the snow and shut the door firmly behind him. For a moment, Olaf stood there, staring at the door and wondering what he'd done to upset Kai.

' _He's probably just having an off day,'_ he thought to himself, shrugging it off. _'If only he'd've let me give him a warm hug, he'd feel much better!'_ And, undeterred, he entered through a different door and continued on his way.

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He eventually found Elsa, already up and practising her magic in her special 'Ice Room'. She was concentrating so hard that she didn't notice him standing there until he spoke.

"Hi!" said Olaf cheerfully. Startled, Elsa gave a little shriek and whirled round, unintentionally shooting an icicle at him; it missed him by an inch.

"Oh! I'm so sorry; did I hurt you?" gasped Elsa, looking both spooked and horrified.

"No, you missed," replied Olaf, shrugging; a movement he wasn't aware of having been able to do before. Elsa relaxed, and then her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Who _are_ you?" she asked in a low, warning tone. "How did you get in here?"

That made Olaf tear his eyes away from the icicle that was embedded in the door and stare instead at Elsa. He couldn't _believe_ this; this was the _second_ person to ask him who he was! He could understand that _Kai_ might have mistaken him for someone else – possibly Anson or Mia, Jean the housekeeper's children – in the dim light, but _Elsa_? She had _created_ him! And so, when he answered, hurt and confusion almost flooded his good-naturedness.

"I'm Olaf," he said, "you created me, remember?"

"B-but you – you're _human..._ " Elsa stared at the creature in front of her in disbelief. Sure, he _sounded_ like Olaf, but...

"No, I'm a snowman," Olaf said patiently. He idly noticed that the Queen seemed shorter than normal; in fact, she seemed shorter than _him_ , but as that was impossible, he disregarded it.

Before either of them could say anything further, the doors at the other end of the room crashed open and Anna burst in, full of energy as usual. She slipped a little on the icy floor and made a frantic grab at a nearby table, just about managing to stay upright.

"Elsa, there you are!" she exclaimed loudly, still trying to regain her balance. "It's been snowing, did you do that? Kristoff's gonna take me for a ride in his sled and – oooh, who's the handsome guy?" She broke off when she saw Olaf standing there. "Elsa, I didn't know you were courting anyone!"

Elsa blushed deeply. "I'm _not_ courting anyone!" she said, somewhat defensively. "He just got in here somehow. He _says_ his name is Olaf..."

"Hi Olaf!" said Anna, grinning broadly. "Hey, we've got a living snowman called Olaf!"

"But that's me!" cried Olaf, feeling real frustration for the first time in his short life. "I _am_ Olaf!"

It was Anna's turn to stare in disbelief at Olaf, and her mouth formed a variety of different words before settling on "Well, he does _sound_ like Olaf."

"But how _can_ he be Olaf?" Elsa wondered aloud, looking down at her hands as if they alone were responsible for the situation. "Olaf is a _snowman,_ not a human!"

"Uh, maybe someone cast a spell on him?" suggested Anna, always ready to believe the impossible. "Besides, I haven't _seen_ our snowman today, and he's _always_ around in the mornings! So maybe this," she waved her hand in Olaf's direction, " _is_ him!"

At this, Olaf grinned encouragingly. He really didn't understand what the fuss was about – he was, and always would be, a snowman – but he decided to go along with whatever game the girls were playing.

Meanwhile Elsa, though still not entirely convinced, decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, _she_ hadn't seen the little snowman that morning either, and this guy was acting just like him.

"OK, I still don't believe you, but I'll let it go...for now," she said, removing the ice and snow from the room with a wave of her hand. "Come on, Anna, I'll walk with you to see Kristoff." And she swept gracefully through the doors with Anna and Olaf close behind her.

* * *

A little while later, Olaf found himself trudging through the snow on his own, feeling downcast and confused for the first time in his life. He and the two princesses had gone down to Kristoff's 'bedroom' (even though the broad-shouldered mountain man was now an official member of the family, he still preferred to sleep in the hayshed with Sven), and Olaf had been quite excited to see his reindeer pal. But far from greeting him by trying to steal his carrot nose as usual, Sven had instead snorted angrily at him and chased him away, as if he were a stranger! What was _wrong_ with everyone today? Why was everyone acting like they didn't recognise him?

Without even realising where he was going, Olaf found himself back at the castle. He was only semi-aware of the looks he was getting from the townsfolk as he wandered through the courtyard, and he didn't even spare a glance for the children playing in the snow, which wasn't like him at all.

Instead, he made his way in through the servants' door and meandered miserably along the corridor, idly glancing at his reflection as he passed the hall mirror...and stopped dead. In a matter of seconds, two things flashed through his mind; first of all, he'd never been able to see his reflection in that particular mirror before, on account of him being far too short, and secondly, what he had seen in that mirror was _not_ what he would have expected to see!

So he rushed back to the mirror to check and sure enough, the face looking back at him was _not_ that of a small, buck-toothed snowman, but the face of a handsome, clean-shaven young man with brown eyes and short, dark brown hair. This strange person was wearing a crisp white suit with big black buttons, a bright orange tie and what appeared to be a pair of white gloves (which, Olaf later discovered, didn't actually come off). He was also wearing an expression of shock and wonder similar to the one Olaf was sure _he_ was wearing.

"I'm _human_!" he whispered to himself, not sure whether to be awed or horrified. "I'm _human_! I'M HUMAN!"

And with that last shout, he dashed off at speed down the corridor, weaving past Esme the maid and dodging Felice the laundry woman, before finally disappearing into the distance.

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Kristoff and Anna were walking slowly back up the snowy slope with Elsa, discussing whether or not this strange man could be Olaf, when something dashed past them, chattering excitedly. Once the snow had settled again, the blurred shape in front of them resolved itself into the mysterious man, who was jumping up and down and grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm human!" he told them happily. "Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, I'm _human_!"

Elsa opened her mouth to give a cutting reply about pointing out the obvious, but Anna silenced her with a sharp jab to the ribs with her elbow, earning herself a dark glare. Anna ignored it and motioned towards their hyperactive new friend who, in his excitement, had tripped over his own feet and gone rolling down the steep hill.

"I'm okay!" he called back up to them when he finally came to a stop, laughing happily and throwing handfuls of snow into the air. Anna and Elsa couldn't help but grin at his antics, and suddenly there was no doubt in their minds that this strange but irresistibly lovable creature was indeed their little snowman.

* * *

"We have to change him back!" yelled Anna a little while later as she dove forward to save yet another antique vase from the whirlwind that was Olaf. The snowman had been in overdrive ever since he had discovered his transformation, and had been dashing all over the place in extreme excitement, with the two sisters and Kristoff in hot pursuit, trying to lessen his trail of destruction.

Even so, they had been unable to prevent him from causing unintentional havoc in the kitchen (almost resulting in concussion for Ernest the chef); from knocking over and tramping through a pile of freshly laundered clothes; from accidentally sending Porter, the houseboy, flying in a high-speed collision; and his antics were swiftly making him rather unpopular. By this point, most of the staff had been told that the strange, speeding young man was in fact their resident snowman, but they were having a hard time getting to grips with this and if anything, this was making the situation worse.

"He's gonna get himself lynched in a minute!" wailed Kristoff as Olaf had a near-miss with Kai before tearing off down the hall.

"Try and get him outside!" gasped Elsa breathlessly. "I have an idea..."

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A few minutes later, Elsa was beginning to regret her decision. She, Anna and Kristoff had successfully managed to herd Olaf outside, but he was still moving so fast that he appeared to be a blur, rendering him almost invisible against the white snow. The snowman was obviously revelling in his sudden ability to run and was reluctant to slow down, kicking up huge flurries of the white powder in his wake.

Sighing, Elsa started moving her hands, generating a spark of blue magic between her palms, until she had a sizable ball fluctuating in mid-air. Satisfied, she sighted out her target, concentrated hard, and hurled the ball of magic at him. She missed. She conjured a new ball of magic and tried again, but once again she missed; Olaf was moving too fast. Again and again she repeated the process, failing to hit her target every time until finally, in frustration, she quickly drew as much magic as she could and just aimed it in the snowman's general direction.

This time, the magic found its target, but not as the bubble of calming wind that Elsa had intended it to be. Instead, it took the form of a giant snowball seconds before it made contact with the back of Olaf's head, knocking him flat, face down in the snow. Elsa emitted a horrified gasp and hurried across to the motionless figure, barely noticing when Anna and a puffing Kristoff appeared on the scene.

"Olaf?" she whispered, a hint of panic entering her voice. But when Kristoff leaned down and gently rolled Olaf over, she breathed a sigh of relief because Olaf was grinning stupidly up at them, though he was clearly a little stunned.

Kristoff stepped forward purposely and took hold of Olaf's upper arm, pulling him into a sitting position. "Help me get him up," he said. "It's time for Plan B."

"Plan B?" echoed the two girls as they gripped Olaf's hands (which were still frozen to the touch).

"Plan B," repeated Kristoff, nodding his head. "We're going to see the trolls."

* * *

Anna sat on the balcony of her bedroom suite, her legs threaded between the bars in a very un-princess-like manner, idly bouncing her favourite yoyo up and down. It appeared to be a purely mindless activity, sustained only with reflex and repetition, but the truth was that behind her somewhat glazed eyes, her brain was working at full capacity. She was thinking about the events of that afternoon which had, all in all, been a disaster. Their trip to see Pabbie, the leader of the trolls, had not been forthcoming – he had not been able to change Olaf back into a snowman, nor had any of them been able to provide any other insightful suggestions – and on top of that, Olaf had discovered that he was currently in no danger of melting and so had stuck his hand in the fire out of pure curiosity, burning himself instead. This had not only shaken his confidence, but had also upset the snowman so much that he had gone off on his own into the snowy evening and had now been gone a full two hours. Which was not good because Olaf still wasn't used to his new body and was likely unaware of its possible limitations and needs...

With an effort, Anna dragged her mind back to the present, deciding that there was really only one path open to her; she would have to go and find him. So she pocketed her yoyo, gathered up her thick winter coat and swiftly left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

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Anna rode slowly into the pine forest, wishing that she'd thought to ask Kristoff to lend her Sven and the sled. Prince, her horse, was loyal and hard-working but he'd never liked the woods at the best of times, least of all when it was getting dark, and his skittishness was beginning to worry her.

"It's ok, boy," she murmured, trying to calm her jumpy steed, but in truth she was just as nervous as he was. As they ventured deeper into the woods, Anna felt her eyes being drawn to the darkest corners, almost unconsciously searching in the shadows for any signs of the wolves that roamed these parts. She had already heard them howling in the distance long before she had even reached the trees, and although they were wild and generally wary of humans, she knew that they wouldn't hesitate to try and take a bite out of her or her horse now that she had practically walked into their territory. Besides, she had had a run-in with the wily beasts once before, when Kristoff had first taken her up the mountain to try and find Elsa after the young queen had accidentally ruined her own coronation with her icy powers, and she didn't know if she could deal with them on her own.

And so when the wolves suddenly appeared from between the trees on all sides, growling and snarling and baring their teeth as they slowly advanced, Anna's heart sank into her boots because she knew that things couldn't possibly get any worse.

And then her horse bolted.

* * *

It was the tallest tree in the forest. It was also the oldest, but how Olaf knew this, he didn't know. What he _did_ know was that he was miserable, and he didn't like it. He wasn't used to feeling such emotions and right now, all he wanted was to go back to being a naive, permanently cheerful little snowman. He wanted to once again be a part of a family he no longer fit into, but not even the trolls had been able to tell him how to do that.

As he sat there, brooding, he gradually became aware of a commotion coming from the woods behind him. Probably the wolves chasing some small animal – a fox maybe, or one of those elusive martens – he reasoned, but as the noise came nearer, he knew without a doubt that they were chasing something far bigger than a fox. Perhaps it was a bear, then, but whatever it was, it sounded like it was coming straight towards him...

Olaf stood up, suddenly tensed and ready to run, but when the thing finally broke cover right in front of him, he froze, totally unprepared for what he was seeing. Because it was no bear that emerged, the wolves snapping at its heels.

It was Princess Anna, still clinging desperately to her wild-eyed horse.

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Prince powered through the forest, driven onwards by the wolves behind him and the single objective currently seared in his brain: escape. In his panicked state, he could only see what was directly in front of him, and so it was a wonder that he was managing to avoid crashing into any of the many trees that were all around him.

He barely saw the huge tree looming in front of him as he finally broke free of the claustrophobic canopy and only just managed to swerve around it at the last moment. There was a loud yelp behind him as one of the wolves collided with the tree, unable to change direction in time, and this only served to further spook the already frantic horse. And so, when a strange, tall creature dressed in white detached itself from the snow directly in his path, Prince came to an abrupt halt and rose onto his back legs in one fluid movement, unseating his rider and hurling her forcefully into the snow. Then he dropped back to all fours, only narrowly avoiding Olaf with his hooves, and plunged on again, reins flapping about his ears, the wolves close behind.

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It was the tallest tree in the forest, and the oldest. But it was also the most rotten, and it was waiting for just one little thing to finally knock it over. A mere push would probably have been enough. And this is why, just seconds after the unfortunate wolf collided solidly with its near-hollow trunk, the tree slowly began to topple over.

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Olaf couldn't move. He was almost literally frozen to the spot. All he could do was stare in horror at the small, pink form lying motionless in the snow just a few feet away from him. It was as if time had come to a standstill at the moment that Anna had fallen, and Olaf barely even noticed the flailing hooves that were dangerously close to his face. He wanted to go to her, to check that she was alright, but his feet just wouldn't move.

But then a loud crack caused him to move his gaze slowly to the huge tree that the poor wolf had run into, and he saw that it was listing dangerously all of a sudden. No, it was falling, falling _fast_ , and Anna was lying there right in its way...

Suddenly he was moving. His feet felt like lead weights and it was like running through treacle, but he was moving. He rushed desperately towards the fallen princess, barely having time to feel relieved when she sat up, rubbing her head, and launched himself at her, pushing her out of the way and to safety.

A few seconds later, he realised that now _he_ was the one in danger.

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Anna sat up slowly, rubbing her head. For a moment, she was mildly surprised to find herself in the snow, but as she looked around, it all came back to her: the wolves, the hair-raising ride between the pines, being thrown off her horse...

Something white caught her eye and she turned to see Olaf charging towards her. Pleased to see him, she started to call out his name, but stopped when she saw the frantic look in his eyes.

"Wha-," she began, just as Olaf dove at her and bowled her over. She rolled a short way before stopping, and she turned just in time to watch as the huge pine tree slammed into the ground.

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Olaf threw himself sideways, out of the path of the tree just seconds before it finally hit the ground with a resounding crash, and came to a stop right at the lip of the ravine.

He got slowly to his feet and grinned weakly at the clearly shell-shocked Anna, before taking an involuntary step backwards...and it was at this point that he realised just _how_ close he was to the edge... He teetered there for a minute, wind-milling his arms, and for a moment it seemed like he might get away with it. But then, at the very last second, he overbalanced and plunged over the edge.

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 _It was a very long way down and the snowman tumbled down and down for what seemed like an age. When he finally hit the bottom, it was with an audible "Whump!", sending up a dense cloud of snow and knocking the wind right out of him. But the impact did something else too; it dislodged a tiny fleck of yellow from the stunned snowman's person which, as Olaf lay on his back in the snow, floated off, undetected, into the evening sky..._

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"Olaf!"

The cry left Anna's lips almost before her mind had registered what had just happened. One minute Olaf had been there, the next he had disappeared from view. Anna scrambled up and rushed to the spot where Olaf had fallen, before throwing herself down on her stomach to peer over the edge. She couldn't see him at first, and she wondered if he had perhaps managed to catch hold of something on the way down; that maybe he had survived the fall after all.

"Olaf!" she called again, her eyes frantically scanning the ground below her for any sign of movement. For another full moment, there was nothing, but then the sound of Olaf's voice drifted up to her.

"I'm ok!"

Anna breathed a sigh of relief. She still couldn't see him, but at least she now knew he was alive. But then another thought crossed her mind and the concern and dread returned.

"Olaf, are you hurt?"

"Uh, no..." came the reply, a little uncertainly. "At least, I don't _think_ so..."

And then, at last, he came into view, and Anna's heart leaped at the sight of him. And seconds later her relieved grin widened even more when she realised that she was looking at a small, buck-toothed snowman with a dumpy body and sticks for arms once again.

"Olaf!" she cried in delight, causing Olaf to look up at her with a strange expression. "You're back! You're a snowman again!"

"I am?" Olaf looked down at his arms, which were indeed sticks once again, and then he too broke into a wide grin. "I am! I'm a snowman again! Oh, this is wonderful!" And he did a happy little dance right where he stood.

Then he looked around at his surroundings, wondering how he had managed to avoid any serious injury in his fall, before looking back up at Anna.

"Um, Anna?" he called, the hint of worry in his voice matching the expression on his face. "How do I get back up?"

* * *

"You should have _seen_ him, Elsa; he was so _brave_! He just...and then he...and _then_ he...and then _I..._ Oh Elsa, when he fell I thought...and then, I mean, Wow!"

Anna plonked herself down on Elsa's bed, breathing hard but grinning broadly, and Elsa grinned fondly down at her. Anna had already recounted the events of the evening to her sister twice since her return, and by the third time round, she was too excited to be able to form complete sentences.

Elsa had had a real fright when Anna's horse had returned home from the direction of the woods, riderless and in obvious distress. Terrified and frantic, she had sent Kristoff and Sven out with the sled to look for her hapless younger sister. Thankfully, they had soon returned, along with a very sheepish Anna and an excitable little snowman, and aside from being cold and shaken, they were otherwise unharmed.

Anna had been following Elsa around ever since – Kristoff had gone to get Sven bedded down and Olaf had wandered off to the kitchens – and Elsa had found it impossible to stay annoyed at her sister's reckless behaviour.

"Elsa?" came Anna's voice from the bed.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think made Olaf change back when he did?"

Elsa found herself surprised by the question, even though she'd been wondering that herself. It seemed that Olaf had – for no apparent reason – turned into a human sometime during the early morning (he had been a snowman when he had woken up, of this he was certain), and turned _back_ into a snowman after falling into the ravine. But Elsa failed to see how either of these facts were relevant to _why_ he had transformed in the first place. Unless the fall had literally knocked whatever spell he was under out of him.

She ran Anna's account of the evening through her brain once again, and found herself unconsciously comparing it to a similar occasion that had occurred the year before. She was surprised to find a number of similarities; an unexplained curse that needed a truly selfless act to break a spell and save a life; one person putting themselves in harm's way to protect another...

Olaf pushing Anna out of the way of a falling tree certainly qualified as selfless to Elsa. And she knew that the little snowman was incredibly fond of both herself and Anna.

She turned around, meaning to suggest this possibility to her sister, but she didn't get any further as she realised that Anna had fallen asleep, completely exhausted by the evening's excitement. So Elsa gently removed Anna's shoes, moved her into the bed and laid the covers over her, and then, smiling at the sleeping brunette with love in her heart, she left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

* * *

Epilogue

( _In the real world, far, far away.._.)

Robbie woke up in the middle of the night, feeling distinctly disorientated. He had been woken by a sudden blast of freezing cold air, which was strange because it was the middle of summer. Not to mention the fact that his bedroom window was closed, so where had the cold air come from?

As he stared around the room in confusion, he gradually realised he was wearing his crisp white suit and orange tie; the one he'd worn to make his latest video. Strange; he was _sure_ he hadn't gone to _bed_ in it!

With a sigh, he got out of bed to take the suit off, and put his foot in something soft and very cold. He yelped in surprise and hopped for a few seconds before looking to see what he'd trodden in, and he stared at it in disbelief. Because it was a large pile of snow.

' _Snow?!'_ he thought to himself, _'In summer?!'_. He frowned at the snow for a moment longer before finally dismissing it. _'I must be dreaming.'_

And with that, he put the suit back on the chair and climbed back into bed.

But if he had thought to look out the window, he just _might_ have caught a glimpse of a tiny yellow speck floating away on the wind...

The End

 **I know that there are three Lemons that I haven't mentioned by name, but they are most certainly in there! Lemons in question, you know who you are!**


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